Richard L. Evans

Long before inspirational broadcasting became a familiar part of American religious life, Richard Louis Evans was writing and speaking into a microphone in Salt Lake City. Born there on March 23, 1906, he grew up into a public life that joined faith, education, publishing, radio, and civic service. To many listeners, his name is inseparable from Music and the Spoken Word, the weekly Mormon Tabernacle Choir radio broadcast for which he wrote, produced, and announced beginning with its inception in 1929 and continuing until his death in 1971.

Evans’s voice and outlook were shaped early by both study and service. In the late 1920s he served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United Kingdom, where he also worked as associate editor of the Millennial Star, a periodical published by the mission. He later received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Utah, with his master’s degree in economics, and joined Pi Kappa Alpha. That mix of religious commitment, editorial training, and practical education helped form the clear, measured style that made his broadcasts feel personal rather than formal.

His professional life was unusually wide. In the late 1920s he took a job with KSL radio as an announcer and script writer. Beginning in 1936, he was also employed as managing editor of the Improvement Era, where he worked for 30 years and eventually became senior editor. He was closely involved in the changes that led to the replacement of the Improvement Era with the Ensign, New Era, and Friend in 1971. His published books included A Century of “Mormonism” in Great Britain, Unto the Hills, This Day...and Always, Tonic for Our Times, Faith in the Future, and Faith, Peace and Purpose, among others.

Within the LDS Church, Evans became a general authority in 1938 as a member of the First Council of the Seventy. On October 8, 1953, after the death of Albert E. Bowen, he was ordained an apostle by David O. McKay and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until 1971. He also served for a time as president of the Temple Square Mission. Beyond church office, he led in civic and educational settings, serving three terms as president of the University of Utah alumni association, 12 years on its board, and for a time on the Utah State Board of Higher Education. He was president of Rotary International in 1966–67 and served on the boards of several companies.

Evans died on November 1, 1971, at age 65, and was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery. The following year, Brigham Young University created the Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding in his honor, reflecting his known ability to reach across religious differences. His words still fit a busy world because they are steady, practical, and humane. “Your direction is more important than your speed” sounds like the kind of counsel he spent a lifetime offering: calm enough for a radio morning, direct enough to stay with a listener all day.